Fangs of Genesis
by Serendipitous House Pet
Summary: Gan is a young hunter with 99 problems like most people his age. Being turned into some monster hybrid by unknown cosmic forces for his apparent new life is one of the main causes, unlike most people his age. Join him on his journey as he explores the new anthro monster world and discovers the truth to the supposedly unthinkable. Friends, enemies, and potential romances await him!
1. Waking up, pup?

**Disclaimer: Image used is not mine. It's Zanshinretsu's deviantart.**

 **This story features elements from both Frontier and Main International Series.**

 **Redo of my other fic Reality Reborn. Will only focus on one main character, but know that the characters from my first fic will appear here and at the very least make an appearance.**

 **Monsters are anthropomorphic, but still the same sizes they are in cannon. They usually aren't naked, having some type of pants or underwear of some sort. Ladies don't wear bras since a monster society probably wouldn't care about that since those aren't private parts one would have to protect like genitals and boobs are not sexual parts. Just wanted to get that out of the way for you guys and help you understand my stories world.**

 **Now please enjoy.**

* * *

 _It was supposed to be a simple ward off mission for a Narkakos. I know that sounds a bit contradictory but compared to everything else that happens, that counts as simple for me. Anyway~_

Gan N. Erwins was among the finer hunters of his generation and today was another check mark on his list of achievements. Despite being on the losing edge of the fight, he and his palico companion Snow, had managed to ward off the Narkakos, deterring it's rage from the simple village of Kokoto not too far from the land of the dead. Now all they had to do was soak in their reward and wait for the pick up.

"Whew!" Snow sighed out as she flopped back in relaxation with her master. "Anothurr job well done meowster!"

Gan nooded in agreement from his position, trying to cooldown in his agnaktor armor. Flaming aura made that a bit difficult. "Yeah... did you notice anything odd about it?" He asked.

Snow shook her head. "Not entirely. Why?"

"It's just... I managed to barely get a closer look at it's face... I think, during the fight and it seemed different. It's hard for me to explain..." Gan breathed out.

Snow gave her master an odd look but shrugged it off. "Hmm. Whatevurr you saw, you should tell it to the guild meowarm."

"Yeah." His partner was right. Whatever was going on with that Narkarkos was best explained with the higher thinkers. 'It looked all... panicked and discolored. It wasn't from the fight and it had no prior injuries. Maybe it was sick or something.' He thought as he recounted the number of strange cases popping up lately, from monsters he's dealt with and what he heard from the grapevine. 'Migration patterns changing, strange behavior, and sudden threat level fluctuations... I gotta look into it more. After my nap of course.' He mused.

They noticed the blimp boat making its way over to the crater before it suddenly turned around and drove out of the area in a hurry. Snow and Gan looked on in shock, confusion, and slight worry at the sudden change in course. The worry only increased as the duo heard faint rumbling in the distance and noticed the fluorescent blue lights in their location become far more eerie.

Were they getting brighter? Shouldn't it stop glowing after the Narkakos leaves or dim down? Why was the cavern shaking? Why did they feel so heavy!? Wa-was the gravity increasing!? What the hell is going on!?

The duo actually fell to the ground as gravity spontaneously crashed upon them like a huge wave and with little warning, all hell broke loose. The eerily dead calm of the lands were replaced by sounds of the apocalypse. The giant cavern they were located in was flashing more blue light streaks than a Diorekkusu.

They tried to scream out to each other, but the only sound that could be heard was the eruption of the earth and explosions around them. They tried to move, but all they could do was watch. They could barely even lift their heads up to see the hell around them. A bright blue flash soon erupted and engulfed them. Just like that, they knew nothing. At this point, they were nothing. Not even dust.

* * *

'Where am I, what happened, where's Snow!?' Were the sudden thoughts of Gan as he awoke in a marsh, gasping and wheezing for air that was already there. As he exhaled, he noted a cool sensation in his throat. It didn't hurt but the sudden feeling made him choke up a bit. 'Was that a fever dream, It couldn't be, I-fuck, I need a drink.' Gan quickly rushed over to a clear stream, gulping down some of ther water in a hasty fashion.

For most people, drinking from a random water scource in the wild would be considered unsanitary, but hunters natrully worked up a strengthened immune system from the demand of their job and Gore Magala contagion could prove highly beneficial.

After drinking his fill of water, Gan took a moment to get his bearings together. His body not only felt bare, he also felt hairier and his lower back felt oddly cumbersome. Perplexed by this, he turned around and his face froze into one of shock and horror. He had a tail, a tail with gray fur, a yellow and red mane, and black spines. He looked at his body and felt himself and noted his mostly naked and larger body was covered in fur, his hands and feet had claws and some padding, and when he felt his face, his teeth were now fangs and his head was more wolfish. His internal screams, if made audible to the outside world, could be heard across the universe. Slowly, he decided to look at his reflection in the water, just now noting its mildly reflective surface.

"...?!" Inside the reflection was a humanoid Kamu Orugaron. Shaking off his hesitation, he made hand gestures and moved his facial features, the beast in the mirror doing the same. Once the information had fully processed itself in Gan's mind, his brain crashed just like his sanity. "AAAAAAGGGHH!" For the next hour and a half, he ran around like a headless Yian Kut-Ku, screaming about the situation being unreal and lamenting about the loss of his humanity until he threw up. After that, he managed to adjust himself and began to get his bearings together.

'Okay, I'm essentially a freak and I'm alone in the wild with a pair of black underwear being my only protection. Judging from the sun's position, it's early morning. I'm in the Marshlands and I think the nearest town is... miles and miles away on foot.' He deflated as the situation became more clear and bleak.

 **"RRRRAAAAAGGGHHH!"**

And that certainly didn't help. With his determination for survival, he moved eastward, away from the sound and hopefully in the direction of a village or something. Gan moved though the marsh as quickly and quietly as he could, using all of his now heightened senses on his surroundings. His furry body kept the coolness and bugs at bay, with the dampness of the landscape hardly registering on his mind. 'Okay, I'll find some shelter first, then town. From there, I'll look for Snow. God I hope she's safe.'

Once he made it to a ledge near the edge of a small clearing, he perched himself atop a large log lump to get a better view of the area. Inside the area was a small group of grazing Aptonoths. Who were human shaped too. "...what?" He asked himself. 'There are others like me? Can they speak? Are their cloths made from leaves? Where am I? Why am I suddenly hungry? Ow! My head!' He thought in a haphazard fashion, subconsciously clutching down on the log, causing it to bleed. 'Wait. Logs don't bleed.'

In a swift motion, what should' ve been a deceased piece of plant life was now an angry Durumboros flailing and bucking from the earth. The Durumboros had the body of a rather hulky man, being covered in thick fat and muscle. The only thing diffrent about this new version of the monster was that he was human shaped and his arms were much more proportional to his body.

The flailing led to Gan clinging on even harder from being startled as the much larger man-beast tried to shake him off in a raging fashion. Gan soon found himself losing his grip on the lumps of fat and in his desperation combined with the adrenaline, he subconsciously made the choice to bite down on the Durumboros' hump, eliciting a yelp from him. Gan surprised himself by how he actually enjoyed the taste of blood on his tongue, but shook off that thought trying to focus on not getting thrown off.

With his growing fury, the monster decided to crash down on his supposed attacker. Thanks to his hunter instincts and years of training, Gan knew what was coming and just as the Durumboros decided to crash down, Gan jumped off of his back and the monster ended jump falling into the clearing.

Gan, feeling bad from antagonizing the resting monster, looked over the edge to check up on him. Luckily for both of them, he was relatively fine, just dazed from the fall. Sighing in relief, Gan made a break for it, trying to get out of the area as fast as he could. 'Hide! I gotta hide somewhere!' As he sprinted over a few bushes, he came upon the sight of a small cave opening, his brain entering a sort of quick time event as he wieghed his options.

'On one hand, the cave provides me shelter and I can listen out for threats a bit easier. On the other hand, I hate confined spaces and the creepier monsters are prone to that enviroment.' Gan swore he heard a deep Rathian roar a few miles away. 'Fuck it, cave it is.' He thought as he bolted towards the opening. Larger monsters, like Durumboros per say, usually didn't go in caves because of their bulk and their need for open areas. Gan's smaller Kamu Orugaron frame allowed him easier access and mobility in the natural formation.

Using his natural parkour skill, he climbed upon the rocks and looked inside the opening. Seeing that it was spacey and how he could climb out, he choose to jump inside. The cavern was pretty much like a normal building to his enhanced senses and seeing as how he was pretty much alone, he huddled against a cave wall in an effort to rest for a bit. After calming down and catching his breathe, he stood up and looked around. The cave seemed to have two large openings into other rooms and looked like it could house multiple smaller large monsters. The area was mostly barren save for the roots around the walls and the mostly dead fooliage on the ground.

With a huff, he decided to start walking in the direction of where he thought he saw light shining through, but stopped as he started to hear the sounds of suctioning just above him and slight breathing. Upon instinct, he jumped towards the side, avoiding the pounce from the eyeless assailant known as a Khezu. It was humanoid in shape too, except it's hand and feet hand small suction cups, its head was featureless excpet for Its maw, and its arms was human shapped, but also wyvern like, with wings sprouting from its pinkies and ending at the elbows. It had on the same type of black shorts Gan did.

Covering his ears in an effort to shrug off its screech, he decided to run for the other side, hoping it would lead out. The Khezu gave chase, charging electricity into its hide before opening fire in Gan's direction. Said Kamu dodged forward and landed on all fours, still trying to run from the wyvern. Somehow, he found himself preferring to run on all fours despite feeling a tad unsanitary, gaining better traction and speed sprinting in such a way.

'What the hell am I doing?' He thought to himself.

"No! Come on, no!" He yelled as he reached the end of the room which turned out to be a dead end with numerous specks of light leaking through the cracks way up top. He turned around just in time to see the Khezu cut him off and Gan swore that thing was smiling at his turmoil while charging himself up for an electric attack. Gan, lamenting his luck, switched from flight to fight while waiting for the Khezu to make his first move.

 ** _(Crash) "_ BRRRRAAAAAAAYYY"**

Before the confrontation could reach the peak, another roar echoed through the cave from the other side of the room. An Abiorugo, one of the more voracious and wild monsters of the frontier, had pretty much crashed into the cave in her search for food and happened to stumble upon our Kamu and Khezu. She was clearly female as her feminine frame indicated. She had the signature axe tail, tusks, scaly green armor with orange spines, and double spine plate crest. She wore some black shorts of some sort but didn't have a bra, exposing her mid sized chest.

The moment her hungry eyes caught the sight of two soft looking meals, she sprinted straight towards them.

'WHY?!' Gan thought as he quickly shot the Khezu a look before speaking in a rapid fashion, hoping he'd understand.

"Listen, we might be able to take her down if we work together and-oh you lousy pansy!" The Khezu stayed for a bit before he jumped right onto the ceiling and scurried in a distant crevice out of the Abiorugo's reach. She barely payed the Khezu any mind in favor of the soft meal that couldn't climb ceilings, lunging forward for a head crushing bite. Gan, channeling his aerial style hunter skill, jumped right over her head then used his feet to push himself off of her back, simultaneously dodging her and causing her to flop face first on the ground. See this as an opportunity, Gan ran for the other side. The Abiorugo shrugged off her tumble and saw her prey trying to run off. With a powerful tail flick, she fired off several spikes at key points on the ceiling, making them collapse above the exit way before he could escape. The room was now mostly blocked off for now.

"Are you crazy?!" Gan yelled, not really expecting anyone to answer that.

"No. Hungry!" The Abiorugo growled as she rushed towards her shocked prey. Gan ducked under a right swing, but barely managed to back step from a tail slash and received a light but searing laceration on his chest. Gan rushed towards her her stomach and opted to go for a direct gut punch. The Abiorugo grunted from the blow, but it was ultimately uneffective thanks to all of the armor and muscle. She chuckled at Gans attempts to fight back and kicked him away, nearly knocking the air from him in the process. He managed to keep himself on the ground and skidded back from the attack rather than get toosed by it.

'That's right.' He thought as he flexed his hands. 'I have claws... I gotta use 'em.'

The Abiorugo came towards him with her breath attack primed and just as she was about to blast her flame orb, Gan dug his claws into the ground and lashed out, throwing the soggy sediment at her face and into her eyes. The Abiorugo discharged her attack prematurely and reeled back in annoyance at the literally dirty fighting tactic. Gan lunged and dug his left claw into the side of her lower stomach, digging into her flesh with surprising ease. She yelped in pain and attempted to grab him, but Gan leaned back before she could. The Abiorugo attempted to pull a swift 360 in order to bisect him. Not wanting to be cut in half by the high temperature blade, he jumped atop her back mid swing, nearly knocking her down in the process. Gan went right in for a headlock as the Abiorugo thrashed about in an attempt to knock him off, crashing against the cave walls and impaling a little of his side on her back spikes. Seeing as how that wasn't working and she felt her throat being clamped in a strong grip, she charged her breath attack up to burn him off. He saw this coming and decided to take the plunge, sinking his fangs into her shoulder and leaning to the side in order topple her over. It worked and she was pushed down into the ground face first yet again.

Gan used this time to grapple her left arm behind her back as he hovered his right claw over her eye. "Don't move." He warned, hoping she'd comply despite being an Abiorugo-person. She growled but complied, much to his relief. "Now that I have your attention and compliance, let's talk for a bit... yes or no if that's okay with you."

"No." She growled.

'Okay, so that wasn't my mind playing tricks on me earlier. She can speak. They can speak. Or maybe it's I who can speak the language of monsters now-and boy am I confused!" He internally screamed at the end. "Good. Now you'll answer some questions and remember, behave or else." He empathized his threat by wiggling his claws in her face, hoping she wouldn't try anything. This was honestly and mostly just a bluff since he prefers not killing unassigned monsters.

"What would you even ask Kata?" She asked while wiggling a bit to look at him with one eye.

'Kata? Maybe that's her name. What would I even ask her?' Gan wondered. After a moment of thought a light bulb went off in his head. "Kata?" He asked. The Abiorugo gave him a look that one would get for asking a dumb question and grunted a confirmation. "Okay Kata, do you know what humans are?"

"...Hoomans?"

* * *

In the dark night sky, the moon hovered over a rocky cove filled with frozen land masses and crags more spiky and menacing than the back of an Akantor. The ocean water around the area was purlple, as if it was poisoned, adding on to its less than inviting appearance.

The world's End, the locals call it. Such a fitting and typical title for a barren landscape. In the middle of this place stood a massive frozen spire, just below the moon, looking as if it was waiting to skewer the satellite. Some said that this spire is the reason for the tainted looking water, a dormant malevolent force leaking into the environment like a venomous stinger.

 _ **(Crack) (Crack) (Crack)**_

Like brittle glass, it was flaking and breaking as a dim light began to flare from the cracks and the water around the spire began to ripple as it was caught between boiling and freezing over.

 _Nature itself knew to give way to **Seraphim.**_

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Monster from Frontier only: Kamu Orugaron, Diorekkusu, Abiorugo**

 **Monsters from Main Series only: Narkarkos, Durumboros**

 **Monsters native to both Interational and Frontier: Akantor, Khezu, Rathian, Aptonoth, Palico, Yian Kut Ku**


	2. The first partner?

**'** Honestly, what did I expect to get from asking her that?' Gan internally asked himself as he tried to explain what humans were to Kata. "Humans: small fanged beast monsters who used tools made from the bodies of other monsters and nature. They live in self made caves called buildings and they usually remain in large groups. Have you seen anything like that?" He pretty much repeated for the seventh time.

"No. For last time, NO!" Kata yelled. "Can you let Kata go now crazy man? Body and arms hurt." She whined.

Gan thought for a moment before answering. "I will, but you have to promise not to attack me."

Kata snorted in frustration before sighing. "Fine. Kata promise." She said. Keeping his end of the deal, Gan quickly let her go nd gave her some space, watching her moments very closely. After stretching her sore limbs and body she moved towards tne rubble she made earlier then charged right through, scattering the rocks and debris all over without a care. She sook off the sediment and dust and proceeded to vacate the cave.

Gan sighed before he heard the slight suctioning above him and bolted right after the brute wyvern, leaving a perplexed Khezu behind. "Kata! Wait up!" He yelled.

"What?" She asked as she turned around near the entrance of the cave and Gan bumped right into her, nearly toppling them both over until she pushed him back. "What you want now crazy man?" She sighed out.

Gan looked around and poked his fingers nervously. "Strength in numbers." He weakly said.

Kata gave him a look before she sniffed him over. "Kata don't mate ouside her species." She said as she folded her arms and narrowed her eyes.

Gan's eyes went wide before his face turned into a scowl. "I don't want that!" He yelled comically. "I'm just saying, you scratch my back and I scratch yours." He said with a smile that unsettled the brute wyvern.

"Kata don't want you near her back again. Kata can scratch it herself." She said as she displayed her tail and stood a bit defensively. Subconsciously, she rubbed her bite wound and growled a bit.

Gan noticed this and quickly stopped displaying his teeth. "Right. What I mean is we work together. I help you get food and you travel with me?" He asked.

Kata stroked her chin and huffed in irritation. "Why? What Kata truly get from this? Kata can get her own food." She asked.

Gan scratched his chin as he answered. "True, but together, we can get better quality food and extra protection for consuming of food. " he said simply.

Kata considered her options for a moment before asking one more question. "You Kamu and Kata Abiorugo. Why work together?"

Gan held back his surprise at what he heard. 'They go by the names humans gave them. Did they name themselves that or are we still around or something?' He wondered. "Because food is more important than... breed?" He wasn't sure if he should say race or species and decided to go with what he considered the middleman.

Kata looked at him before nodding. "True. We have a deal for now furry one. For now." Gan mentally fist pumped. "So which way we go?"

Gan looked at the sun for a moment. 'The sun rises north of due east I think, so we'll go...' He pointed in a direction. "Southwest." He said as he remembered that a costal village in that direction. The land should get more tropical as they progress. "By the way, my name's Gan."

"Kata still call you crazy man."

So Kata and Gan began their travel through dark, dank, marshlands at a leisurely pace. There were still monsters to worry about, but it was highly unlikely most would attempt to attack a Abi-Kamu duo, especially with easier prey to take down. Hopefully, they wouldn't impede on any strong monsters territory.

* * *

The greater bog of the swamplands, a dark and treacherous environment filled with equally dark and treacherous hazards. Inside this particular area, broken ancient buildings and constructions of a bygone age littered the area, markers of a mass graveyard from battles long past. Its bog was a dark oily color and little life seemed to linger here, with dead trees containing scavenging insects and fungus being the closest lifeforms.

 ** _(_** _ **Pops and sizzles)**_

Without a warning, the bog began to stir as a haze of darkness began to lift from murky waters and damp land patches. A sinkhole seemed to be forming, but that was clearly not the case. A dark and rocky mass rose from the depths, a menacing maw with baleful lights emitting from its mass.

 **DRRRRAAAAAYYYY!**

 _Lands were stripped of their beauty by **envious** gods. This time, I'll take everything back and more._

* * *

"Hot damn, what's up with this fog or whatever?" Gan complained as he tried to see past the really thick fog that was looking a bit darker than usual in his opinion, though he figured it could be due to the time, being late evening. He stopped midway when he heard his companion growl two ways. From her mouth and stomach.

"Grr, Kata hungey, so we hunt now." She growled as she swished her tail back and forth.

Gan held his hands up in submission. "Alright. Let's go hunting then." He said and she bolted off to her right, Gan having to get on all fours in order to keep up or at least try to. As he followed, a moral confliction came upon him. If monsters were all sentiant anthromorphs and he was now, or still rather, their predator, this would essentially be murder. Murder for survival, but still murder. Killing primal creatures for sustenance was one thing, but they were pretty much now people. People with advanced thought processes. With potential hopes and dreams.

'Oh god.' He thought as he held back the odd feeling in his chest.

 **"BRRRAAAAAYYYY!"**

He heard in the distance, his vision abscured by the fog. He heard the cry of another animal, a small herbivore by the sounds of it and then a loud sploch and thud. After a few moments of running, he came upon the sight of Kata standing over a large aptonoth with a severed jugular and arteries slashed open. "Food." She growled out happily. "Big enough for both of us. Maybe." She said before she dug right in.

Looking back, Gan's never really had a problem looking at the face of a dead animal. Nature is cruel. Now, he felt slightly bothered. Oddly enough, that was it. To be fair, hunters pretty much walked with death and even though he was taking the life of another essential equal, he was a predator. In a way, no diffrent from his old life. The difference now being he could eat flesh raw now and kill with bare hands... paws.

"You gonna eat crazy man?" Kata asked through mouthfuls of flesh. Gan nodded and took the right hand then bit right down on the bicep. The meat was chewy, oddly tasty, and the blood gave it some flavor. "Why you look surprksed by taste. Not former vegetarian are you?" Kata asked suspiciously.

"No. It's just, I haven't had a good meal in a while now." He said.

Kata looked at him then nodded with a hum. "Yeah. You do look scrawny."

Gan huffed. "Yet I still kicked your ass." He muttered as Kata buried her head in the carcasses stomach. Gan, being more comfortable, started to pig out himself, barely paying attention to the blood staining his fur. Oh well, he'd wash off later or something. After sloppily finishing their meal, the two decided to find themselves some shelter and rest. With night approaching, they figured the sooner the better.

"Wanna sleep under some trees?" Kata suggested.

Gan shook. "Sleep out in the open?! Yeah, no thanks." He said with some sass. "We need something sturdy and more secluded, like a cave."

"In tight space and with crawlers? No thanks." Kata said, mimicking his sass to his annoyance.

Gan sighed and pinched the bridge of his snout. "Fine. We'll compromise. I think there's giant undergrowth around these parts. Lets try to find something akin to that and rest there, okay?" Kata nooded in agreement and they went searching. It wasn't too long until they found a large hollow of sorts surrounded by some foliage and choose to rest there, just in time too, as it started to rain. Kata, having here belly somewhat full, fell asleep automatically, so Gan choose to keep watch for a bit.

"I'm an Orugaron. What was it that Orugaron's had in their throats or chests again?" Gan wondered aloud to himself. Deciding to get a a clue, he began to inhale and exhale deeply from his diaphragm, hoping to feel something come from him. He startled to fell that cool sensation again, but something distracted him.

In the distance, Gan could hear faint flaps high above the night sky, but that wasn't what caught his attention. What did catch his attention was how the moonless night seemed to blacken and the air around him felt unsettling. He didn't know why, but all he wanted to do was cuddle with something big and hide away. Deep within the black, he swore he saw a faint orangish red speck of a glow far away in the sky, but he wasn't sure. With a calming breath, he decided to get some sleep once it was gone. If anything dangerous came near, he was sure they'd notice before it got too close.

* * *

The morning Gan woke up to was calm and relatively peaceful, no fog obscuring his vision and no dark presences crawling under his skin. As for his partner, she was playing with a konchu by kicking it around. Wait...

"Kata? What are you doing?" He asked groggily.

Kata was a little more slow to answer him, since she was still full and had a good night's rest. "Roller bug came up to Kata. Since Kata bored waiting for you to wake up, she play with roller bug." She said slowly.

"Oh. Well stop. It doesn't look comfy and we're leaving now." Gan said sternly, hoping she wouldn't argue back.

She sighed and kicked the poor bug away, causing it to unfurl on it's back, revealing a top half being human looking while his lower half was still bug like, so he needed no clothing. His head was human in shape, but he had mandibles and compound eyes. "Ugh! Thanks stranger, that brute was playing with me like a damn ball. Now if you could just-" He was interrupted by a flying Yian kut-Ku man wearing a loincloth who swooped down and gulped him up.

The Yian Kut-Ku man had a human body. His arms were human looking too, save for the wings, starting at his pinkies and ending at his elbows. His face had a beak and he had the usual frills were ears should be. After eating the Konchu, he looked at Gan and Kata an nodded polity. "Howdy." He said before he flew off.

"Well..." Gan trailed off.

"The glorious cycle." Kata blurted. "You ready to go crazy man?" She asked.

"Huh? Uh, yeah, sure, let's go." He said dryly.

They began walking for a few minutes in silence until Kata choose to speak up lazily. "Hey crazy man, the more southwest we go, the hotter it gets."

"So." Gan said.

"I thought Orugarons hated heat." She asked as she pointed to his fur. "Guess Kata was wrong." She yawned.

This made Gan stop and think for a moment. 'She's right. My body was made for the cool marshlands. I'd burn up in the more tropical climates.' He realized. "No. You're right Kata. I need to get supplies." He said as he looked around and walked in another direction, Kata following behind. "Come on, we're going mining and bug hunting." He said.

Kata shrugged indifferently depite how boring and time wasting that sounded to her. Anything was fine as long as she got to eat. Still though. 'What's mining.' She mentally asked herself.

* * *

"Yo Rad, you there?!" A voice sounded off inside a dark, moist cave. "Rad! Answer me you prick!" The voice belonged to a lone Ioprey. His body was comprised of lean muscle and his facial features were mostly human save for his protruding teeth and crest. Right now, he searching for a missing partner. "Come on man, our shift ended minutes ago, we gotta go."

God, this was nerve racking. It was early in the morning and Rad was dicking around. The Ioprey looked and sniffed around searching for him but nothing-wait blood, there was blood in the area. Along with Rad's scent.

In a great burst of speed, the Ioprey rushed to the area containing the scent, deep within the cavern and found...nothing. Wait, there were splotches of blood along the walls! "What the hell?" This is was not good. Lots of blood and no body. No Rad. He had to go, he had to warn the boss.

Just as he was about to make like a neopteron and split, something shifted in the mud. In a split second, something burst out, launching the Ioprey on his back. The creature then lunged towards him, pinning him down with a claw and subsequently breaking his legs eliciting a quick scream from him. "Gaaagghh!" He then looked up and saw a...a. "What the hell ar-"

And before he could finish, he was cut off by a suctioning organ to the face, quickly draining him of his blood and organs. Just like that, he became a husk. Nothing but bone and skin. The creature, still holding the body, began to sank back into to the mud, getting ready for the next meal until it heard voices echo off in the distance.

"Okay Kata, start breaking those shiny veins in the walls as carefully as you can. I'll sniff out the bugs." A male voice ordered.

"We eat bugs?" A female voice questioned in a wierded out yet slightly curious tone.

"What, no. Look I'll explain after, just do what I ask alright." The male voice ordered. The female grunted and the sounds of faint chiping could be heard.

'They sound bigger.' The entity thought before it fully sank into the mud. "I'll investigate."

* * *

 **AN: Another short chapter. It's a little hard for me to write this in terms of situations, since I'm essentially flat out making my own story and I wanna pad out the time with scenes that have a point and don't waste time.**

 **Also, some of my reader from the other story may notice the nearly same scene only caried out at a different time and with noticeable changes. What will I do? I wont spoil.**

 **Monsters from international series: Konchu, Gogmazio**

 **Both Frontier and Main Series: Ioprey**


	3. Another Gray Swamp Sucker?

"Are these the shiny rocks crazy man need?" Kata asked as she clumsily set down some minerals right next to Gan, who was digging for more bitterbugs and putting them in a makeshift pouch made of webs and leaves.

"Ouch! Dammit!" Gan shouted as his hand was zapped by a thunderbug. He quickly threw it away in favor of his fifteenth bitterbug. He stopped to look at the progress for a moment and answer Kata. "Uh, yeah, a few of them." He said as he raked the few ice crystals in a seperate pile. "Go further down the cave and look for more of the shiny veins then chip 'em, especially the icy parts." Gan directed.

Kata snorted and calmly made her way down into the expanding cave, barely caring for her surroundings due to her somewhat filled state. Eventually, she reached a wall vein and began to monotonously chip away at the ore vein, ignoring the very light scent of blood and slight salt.

* * *

"Sssssss." A creature hissed as it slowly rose from nearly watery mud. With a curious gaze, it spotted a suposed native Several meters away below a slight slope. 'It looks slow but not very soft. Tail and spines certainly don't help. It's underside though.' The creature thought as it noticed the females healing wounds. 'A good jab in the jugular should do. A vital organ hit would at least slow it down.' It thought as it sunk back down into the mud.

* * *

Once Kata finished off the ore vein, she lazily went to pick them up until she heard several rocks get knocked over near a small section of stalagmites on the opposite end of the area.

"Shit!" Someone angrily whispered. From behind the formations, thin crimson figures shifted in the shadows, fidgeting amongst each other to get a better hiding position, not realizing they had already failed misrebly. Once their movements ceased, Kata decided to let them clearly know.

"Hey! Kata know you're there!" She announced in a unconcerned tone. For a near minute, no sound was made except for the dripping of water in the cave and small primal life near by. "Come ou-Rah!" Out from right under her lept forth a giant figure and it's whip like tongue lashing for one of her vital spots. Luckily, her back was facing it and it only scratch her back pltes a bit. In response, Kata quickly turned around with a tail spin and the assailant quickly backed away.

Now directly facing the attacker, she held back a slight look of surprised confusion at the peculiar looking leviathan. a large yet lanky, gray colored, purple striped, fang faced, blue eyed, monster man with two fins running from his head to his upper tail, and a fin along the side of his arms and legs. He also had a vein like marking from the corner of his mouth to his neck, on both sides of his stomach horizontally, and two on the sides of his legs vertically. He was wearing the usual skintight shorts murky leviathans wore.

'What are you? Definitely not Khezu.' She thought to herself, not botherng to verbalize it. Abiorugo save all questions till after their stomach is full. With a snarl, she twirled her tail again and shot off four spikes at the leviathan who easily writhed his form out of harms way and towards the brute wyvern. Kata saw this as an opportunity and when he got close, she leapt up and attempted to crush him with a backwards body slam. He easily twisted out of the way and went to pin her down, but stopped when he noticed her beginning to charge a fire in her mouth and decided to charge up something himself.

Kata got back up as soon as she could and with her fire charged up, readied to blast off. Well, she would've had a torrent of slimy water not punched her face and made her reel. With her head doused and vision blurred by both impact and water, she couldn't respond quick enough to the pounce. The strange leviathan had pinned her, his left knee in her stomach and right foot on her left arm. Using one hand to hold her and his other other hand to painfully clamp her mouth shut, he geared up to pierce her throat.

He would've done it, if not for our meddling Kamu. Instead of shooting his tongue into Kata, he turned his head and lashed out at the sound of sprinting towards him. Gan dodged the tongue right on time, his old hunting style shining through, and tackled the leviathan off of his partner. The moment they were making contact, Gan began to lash out with his claws while the leviathan tried to move his head to and fro, trying to keep his soft parts in tact. The moment he got one of his legs in the right position, he kicked the smaller form of Gan away and caught his breath.

Gan tumbled and rolled onto his feet before he looked at Kata's to make sure she was okay. "Kata! Are you alright?!"

"What took you so long?!" She questioned as she got up, annoyed more than outright angered.

"I had to put the stuff away!" He replied with a shrug.

Kata bristled and snarled. "Stuff more important than partner?" She asked with edge now in her voice.

Gan rose and eyebrow and folded his arms. "Um, yes. You tried to kill me, I kinda don't know you all that well, and your brute force is the only reason I need you now." He answered in the most callous tones he could muster.

Kata shot him a glare before her gaze softened and she shrugged. "That's fair. If situation were reversed, Kata wouldn't save you, Kata kinda dislike you."

Gan snorted. "I can live with that."

"No you won't." A raspy voice hissed out and all eyes were on the leviathan, whose eyes were now colored a fiery orange and fins were fully unfolded.

"Baruragaru." Gan whispered. 'Haven't fought one in a while, never fought one that can think on par with a human either. Thank goodness he hasn't eaten any Iodrome.' Gan thought as he readied himself. Gan and Kata were pretty much flanking him from both sides and with that advantage of both two to one and positions, charged straight for him.

'Hmm... the furry one first.' The Baruragaru thought with a sinister smirk. He quickly moved towards Kata and jumped over her low tail swing as Gan was in hot pursuit, pouncing towards the Baruragaru with his claws outstretched. This was a mistake, as the Baruragaru turned mid jump and used his tongue to impale Gan's shoulder and toss him off course. Kata immediately caught up to the leviathen and attacked with a powerful kick directed towards his belly. He side stepped out of the way and swatted at her with his tail. She blocked the first blow on her right side with her arm, but the Baruragaru quickly twirled the other way and hammered her belly.

"Guh!" She breathed out as she clutched her stomach in pain. Being distracted by the pain and upsetting of her stomach, Kata wouldn't have been able to stop the Baruragaru from tripping her up with his tongue. Gan could however, and did so by rushing towards the Baruragaru's legs with his claws, getting a good swipe onto his right lower side down to his upper leg.

Hissing in pain and anger, the Baruragaru picked Gan up by his shoulders as he tried to get another slash in, digging his claws into his shoulders before tossing him right into Kata, knocking them both over.

 **"HWUAAAAAGGSSHH!"**

This was no longer interesting to the bloodthirsty leviathan. The "Blade Bitch" and the "Furry Bitch", as he inwardly named them, were getting on his nerves at an astounding rate and he would have no more of it. 'They're both down and dazed. Perfect, I'll pierce through Furry Bitch's neck and Blade Bitch's chest.' He thought giddly as he relished the image of one suffocating and the other drowning in her own blood.

"There they are boss, just like we said!" A young voice yelled out before a smacking sound came.

"Thanks for throwing away the element of surprise." An older voice chastised. **"RRROOOOO!"**

'The red meats. I could easily destroy the little ones but..." The Baruragaru thought about the possible numbers and problems that may be presented with more targets at once, annoyance and anger showing on his face as he looked at his former targets. "Grrrr... may these scavengers finish what I started." The Baruragaru hissed out before he began to dive into the soggy ground, creating waves and splashed until he was out of sight.

"Well look at what we found, scouts." An older gruff sounding voice said as several footsteps entered the area. Iodrome and dozens of Ioprey, the former shaped with a lean muscular build and his head, while mostly shaped human yet still retained that large crest, had surrounded the injured pair. The Iodrome was a bigger and more developed version of his lessers. "A Kamu and brute wyvern, you don't get those two together every day."

"Yeah. Look at 'em, boss, must a scrapped with that weird leviathan the scouts mentioned." One of the Ioprey surmised.

The Iodrme chuckled a bit. "No dung. I don't say this often if at all, but I'm actually glad these guys survived. They can answer a few of my questions." He said as he put his hand on his chin. Kata pushed Gan off, but a few venomous warning spits stopped further movement. "Yeah, don't do that. You see, you have open wounds and these are my more... developed lessers. If a bunch of their venom gets in, which it will, you will probrably die at some point, even if you somehow escaped. If my venom gets in you too, which it will, you will die at some point." He warned. "Now stay down and answer me when spoken too."

Kata growled in compliance. She couldn't help but mentally groan either. 'This is the second time and day barely even pass by goddammit.'

Gan on the other hand nodded to the Iodrome while he couldn't help but feel like this was slight karma for his partner despite him never instigating anything except for that one incident with the Durumboros, even though that one was not on purpose.

"Good, I love understandings. Now, have either of you ever heard of a Baruragaru?" Gan nodded while Kata looked at him in mild surprise. "Really, how and when?"

"I fought one several years back. I killed it, but it was pretty young so it wasn't that hard." Gan explained, somewhat telling the truth.

"Hm. Interesting. How big was it then. How developed were his fins and how much did his teeth protrude?" The iodrome asked. His scouts couldn't get a full look since the zone got too hot to stay, thus they couldn't give him a full description.

"They were fairly noticable. He definitely wasn't that young, pretty strong." Gan said uneasily.

The Iodrome thought for a moment before sighing. "It'll be a slaughter all over again..." he whispered bitterly before facing the duo. "As of now, you're with us. Fan out everybody, were heading back to the den! We need to get everyone ready ASAP!" He yelled.

"Wait, why do we have to come?!" Gan asked. He answered his questions and why would they want non-io's in their home turf.

"We need all the help we can get. Besides, this problem effects all the swamp inhabitants." The Iodrome said. "That invading freak is going to tear my people apart and any other creature that gets in his way, including your own and the food. At the very least, I want you to consider what I have to show you back at the den."

Gan could hear the slight desperate tone his voice and sighed. "Not like we have a choice anyway, you're dragging us to your den anyhow."

( _Rrrrrr) "_ Grrr." Kata growled along with her stomach, saliva starting to drip from her maw.

The Iodrome went wide eyed and looked at three of his lackeys. "Make sure we have a good supply of food when we get back. Don't want any freak outs." He said before he jabbed a thumb at Kata, his lessers nodding in understanding.

"Wait!" Gan shouted. "What about my-"

"Rocks and bugs?" The Iodrome questioned. "Don't worry, their temporarily in our claws until further notice. Let's go." He said before walking off, his group and the captures in tow.

"Grrr... Kata so tired of being dragged off. Kata already so tired of you." She said as she leered at Gan as hard as she could.

Gan shrugged. "Yeah." He sighed out. "I can sympathize with that."

* * *

 **AN: So, what do you guys think of the new story so far. Please, review and tell me your thoughts my lovelies.**

 **Monster from Frontier: Baruragaru**

 **Monsters from both: Iodrome**


	4. A Hunting Offer?

As of now, Gan and Kata were essentially prisoners of the local Ios, being taken to their home den in order to understand why the Baruragaru was a threat that had to be destroyed.

"So, a Abiorugo for a companion huh?" The Iodrome leader known as Doku asked Gan, walking beside him as they walked in the middle of the squad. Kata was kept a little more in the back, but still somewhat close to Doku just in case of a unwelcomed mishap. "Not many outside of their native species are willing to do that." He drawled as he glanced towards the slightly jerky brute wyvern.

"Some form of company is better than none." Gan said with a bit of hesitation.

"I'll howl to that." Doku chuckled. "Still, how'd you get her to comply? You got a surplus of food in your den?"

"No. We fought and I choose to spare her life." Gan answered plainly.

Doku loooked at him for a surprised moment before he started muttering. Gan caught some of his words. "Sparring competition... terrible logic... he's strong... or... she sucks..."

"Ahem." Gan cleared his throat to reel back in the attention.

"Oh! Hehehe." Doku scratched the back of his head as he laughed nervously. "Anyway, no offense, but you're a rather strange man."

"Ha. No offense taken. Shit, Kata over there nicknamed me crazy man." He said light heartedly.

"I think I can understand why." Doku said dryly with a small smile. He ceased his chatter with Gan as the group came upon a relatively small crevice for large monsters. It was essentially a large slit in a small rock structure. He looked over Kata and Gan then the crevice before sighing. "Sorry about this you two. Lads, help me lube 'em up!"

"Excuse-" Gan was interrupted by a glob of Doku's spit hitting him right in the face. "THE FUCK!"

"Ragh, Gross!" The brute wyvern yelled, being subject to globs of saliva just like her partner. Had it not been for her grasp on her mortality, she would've crushed these poison spitters in a fit of spastic rage.

"Calm down, calm down! (Snort) Again, a thousand apologies, but you guys weren't gonna fit without a buffer." Doku explained, pointing to the crevice. "Besides, I did give you a quick heads up."

"Ugh god, yeah thanks. Thank you Doku." Gan groaned.

"Kata curse you Doku." Kata growled.

The Iodrome shrugged before leading Gan and a few of his Ioprey in the crevice. Once they were through, he had them lead Kata in from behind. At first, it looked like she was going to fit, but halfway through. "Guh. Ngh! Grrr, Kata stuck."

"No kidding. You brute wyverns and your thighs." Doku chuckled. "Hold on."

"What drome planning?... Wait, Kata hear running, wha-Gah!" Kata's answer came in the form of a flying kick dislodging her from the crevice and making fall on her belly. "Grrrr, thank you." She said begrudgingly, trying very hard to not flip out at the giggling prey around her.

Doku raised his hand to silence his lessers as he addressed the larger wyvern. "You're welcome. Now, forward everyone!" He commanded sternly. The group led their two captive guests down narrow passage ways leading to, from the sounds beggining to echo through the cavern, a large nest a down below.

"When we enter my packs domain, be sure to behave yourselves you two. Something goes wrong, I will hear about it and I don't think I need to mention consequences." Doku said, looking Gan and Kata in their eyes respectively. His message was loud and clear to the duo, apparent from their immediate nod at his words. "Good." He turned back around and after a few more seconds of walking, they entered the packs domain.

It wasnt too impressive, but still, the caved looked as though it could house a few sleeping large lagiacrus. With a natural underground water and some foliage here and there, it was a naturally nice. Plenty of nests were evenly spaced out around the cave, with many of their owners going about their natural Ioprey buiness, save for a good chunk of the Ioprey stopping to look at the arrivals.

"Zalt! Xen! Bring some meat to the history rocks. Captives, follow me." Doku ordered.

"History rocks?" Gan asked blandly.

"Mhmm. I told you I need to show you some things didn't I? A little history with a meal never hurt anyone."

"Hehe, doesn't hurt Kata." She said happily for once. 'Finally. Pace change.'

* * *

"What new world is this that my brother has wrought?" The entity asked herself, watching as the sun set below the mountains. "Gaia remains unchanged, yet humanity itself has more than distorted." She shook her head. "It matters not. What matters is how this factors into our plans."

"Oi! Who 'er you?!" A brash young voice yelled behind her. She turned her head to the side to see a Rathian and a Rathalos landing behind her. "Well?!" The rathalos asked, becoming more agitated by her lack of response.

"No one special. Please, leave me to my thoughts." The entity asked polity, her black, tar covered wings folding around her.

"Oi! Babe your 'earin' this freak?" The Rathian asked her mate.

"Listen well freak, leave now and in peace or stay and become more acquainted with traditional Rath hospitality. Take your pick now." The Rathalos warned, flexing his poison filled talons. His mate was practically itching to put her stinger to use.

The entity turned in their direction. The moment the Raths saw her full frontal glory, they became unnerved. Her firey eyes and eerie draconic visage gave them a sense of dread and loathing. Her alrady rather imposing size was made all the more prominent. When she unfolded her wings and faint black vapor emanated from her, that only added more the imposing feel. "I'm sorry to inconvenience you." She spoke softly, betraying her looks. "I shall vacate immediately." Then she took off without a word.

"Yeah... you better fly." The Rathalos said weakly. He shuttered for moment. "Jeez."

"What was she?" The Rathian asked.

"Don't know. Did you see her eyes though, ugh, and the faint blackness she had going on around her" He shook his head and scratched his shoulder. "Something wasn't right."

"No kidding. Come on, we better go finish our route."

"Yeah." He said a bit uneasily, feeling his scales crawl. Rather itchy sensation it is.

* * *

"Woah." Gan breathed as he looked at the carvings upon the rocks. Inside a large room, seperate from the rest of the cavern were multiple and rather detailed depictions of what he guessed were the pack's history on the rocks. The most distinct carving was a large carving in the back of the room in the center, depicting a familiar looking monster rising from what he guessed to be the mud, dried corpses of various monsters strewn about. "This is what you wanted to show me?"

"Yes. Years ago, when I was just entering drome status, this monster came and made the marshlands its domain, ignorant to the established territories of its denizens. The first beings to go were the smaller herbivores, a few cave dwelling people, and some of us from neighboring packs. At first, we shrugged it off, simple losses for our neighbors, who cares. This was a horrible mistake."

Gan already had an idea of where this was going. "It started to prey a bit more exclusively on your people, didn't it."

Doku nodded. "Yes. It wasn't eating us out of simple hunger, but power. It fed off our blood and toxins. We were easy prey and an easy buffer. The other people cared little for our suffering and did nothing to halt the invader. Eventually, it began to overpower other larger beingss and from some of them came more power. Even the electric blooded Khezu weren't safe. The beast unleashed toxic clouds like a monsoon that tainted the lands and if that didn't kill, the Baruragaru ripped you to shreds or sucked you dry, sometimes both. The ecosystem was becoming barren and life couldn't flourish with the lack of proper sustance. The marshlands were dying and we were nearly the first to go." He sighed deeply, becoming a bit lost in the past. "Even today, we still feel the after shocks. Further west of here, toxic puddles and dead or withering foliage litter the place. Few go there, barely live there."

"Sounds horrible." Kata said through her stuffed face. "Bad water, no plants. No plants, no herbivores. No herbivores, no carnivores. No food for poor Kata." She grumbled dejectedly.

"Did you guys kill it?" Gan asked.

Doku sighed again. "At a heavy loss made up from the forces of combined packs and other warriors. Just barely too." He turned to the duo, his gaze hardening. "This is why I ask, no, demand your help. That thing, if allowed to live, will kill my people and yours too. No one is safe from that thing. No one!" He shouted with passion his voice.

"Hmmm. Kata don't have to live here, but a world with less food is a world where Kata will not live. What say you, reluctant partner crazy man?" Both Kata and Doku's shifted to Gan.

'I could say no. Nah, no I couldn't, I'm a hunter at heart so...' Gan swallowed his food and looked Doku straight in the eyes. "We're in. The marshlands are my home after all."

Doku, visibly pleased by their answers, tossed him some more meat and gestured for them to follow him out of the room. "That's what I wanna hear." Truth be told, had they declined, he was more then prepared to pull some type of trap on them involving the leviathan, but they didn't need to know that. "I have a few other contacts on the look out for the beast and monitoring positions when possible. Tomorrow, when the other two Iodromes arrive, we'll go over some plans and strategies. Until then, make youselves comfortable in the guest nest near the large stalagmite a few feet from the pool. Swick should be there to attend to needs within reason. Have a good night. Oh, and your stuff should already be there."

"Huh, fresh food and a nice place to rest. Still feeling tired of me Kata?" Gan asked a bit playfully. His partner raised a brow.

"Of course. This Doku's gift, not yours."

Gan folded his arms. "True, but what I'm implying is that my luck landed us here. In this situation. Which is kinda good."

"Kata guess. Kata also guess your luck nearly got us killed too, which is bad." She reminded him in a rather bland tone. "Unless that counts as subjectively good for you." This comment made Gan stop in his tracks and fall behind a bit.

"... You know how to use the word subjectively, but yet you speak like a caveman stereotype?" He asked himself in hushed tone. "Whatever." He breathed before picking up his pace to the guest nest. 'Wait for me Snow. I get to my hunt first and then I'll reach you. I promise.'

* * *

 _ **AN: Hope you guys had some good holidays and are ready for the new years. Especially for MONSTER HUNTER WORLD! I AM SO FUCKIN' READY! HOW ABOUT YOU?!**_


	5. The meeting, ay?

"Excuse me. Excuse me, sir." Gan, being a hunter, knew how duty could call and end his pleasant dreaming. That didn't mean being woken didn't annoy the hell out of him though. Especially by thin yet harsh hands with talons trying to jostle him awake.

"Okay, I'm up, I'm up." Gan croaked with groggy eyelids finally opening. "Ugh. Kata awake or are you looking to me for help first?"

"No need, sir. She's an earlier riser apparently. Went right in the direction of food." Swick nearly shivered. "In all honesty, boss said that it would be alright to let her sleep in if she did, given what she is. He said you could brief her after."

"Don't blame him." Gan muttered. He probably would've done the same thing. "Where is she now?"

"Not to be a wise crack or anything, sir, but where do you think she is?"

Gan already knew the answer to that. "Right." He strecthed and yawned. "Hope she isn't draining too many resources from you guys."

"Don't worry too much, we've build up a rather nice stockpile of food recently. Surprisingly, she actually promised to hunt some more food us as a thank you for the hospitality." Swick said with a tone befitting his surprise.

"Really?" Gan asked and Swick nodded. 'Guess food triggers some empathy and gratitude from her. Makes sense.'

"Anyway, sir, boss Doku wants you at his side ASAP as the other leaders are on their way and he wants to talk to you before hand. Follow me please." Swick said quickly and gestured for Gan to follow, which he did.

"What about Kata?" Gan asked.

"Sir, she's feeding." Swick reminded him with an emphasis on feeding.

"Alright." Gan relented, continuing to keep pace with the little attendant. He did his best to ignore the wary stares and low hisses of the cave's populace. What he assumed to be the more developed warriors looked cautious yet itching for him to try something out of line. 'Man, haven't had this much unwelcoming attention since the Palico bomb incident.'

Gan decided to distract himself with some more idle chatter. "So Swick, how long has your pack settled here?"

"Hmm... for nearly seven and a half decades I believe." He answered. "That's what boss Doku told me. Our packs been around for at least eight decades."

"Damn. You guys must be the top pack around these parts."

"Maybe. Pack north of here giving us a run for our meat though and they've haven't even been around for half of our time" he said a bit jealously. They stopped as they came upon a cavern hole guarded by few tougher looking Ioprey. "Doku's just outside. I've gotta watch your partner. See ya, sir."

Gan immediately walked outside and found the leader just outside, the Iodrome man leaning against a dead tree. "Hey, Doku."

"Gan. Right on time too." Doku crossed his arms, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Alright, I'm just gonna tell you up front and simple. This meeting may feel awkward, perhaps even a bit tense. Not just because you and possibly their allies are there, but also because pack relations haven't been the most kind between my pack and one of the leaders."

Gan had a feeling why. "Battles over territory I take it?" This wasn't uncommon amongst bird wyverns such as these.

For some reason, Doku hesitated for a split second before answering. "Yes. Our turf battles were on the verge of becoming turf wars by the time that thing came and we got wind of it." He sighed and crossed his arms. "I doubt anything serious will happen between us during the meeting. Despite the hostility, we both agreed through our messangers that the greater good is at stake. However, I want you to be cool and alert, just in case."

Gan nodded, hiding a bit of his nervousness. "Got it. Do you know what he looks like or have a name at least?"

"Yes." Doku answered. "His name is Vazu. Other than that, not much else stands out about him I hear. He looks like your usual Iodrome. His wits however, are above the average pack leader. It's because of him that they rival us now."

"I see." Gan said. "I'll keep my senses alert then."

"And don't mention Kata, she'll be our surprise fighter that I can explain after all of this is over." Doku used quotations for the explain part.

"Why?"

"I don't want to put the others on edge. One small ally is uncomfortable enough, but you and an Abiorugo isn't gonna help ease the relations. Both of you are great for power play, not cooperation and trust. Besides, once this is all over, I want to establish some formal peace between our packs and this situation could be the nulberry for our relations."

Gan nodded. "Ah, understood." He had to admit, Doku was seeming more and more like a cool guy as this went on. Never thought he'd say that about an Ioprey given what he used to go through with them on hunts and their occasiooccasional cheap shots.

"Good. Lemme get my guards and Let's get going." Doku said a bit more cheerfully. "By the way, feel free to speak up if you've got a good idea. Emphasis on good."

* * *

The "meeting fields" looked pretty pleasant as opposed to the rest of the swamps in Gan's opinion. Soft and gentle under the breeze. Too bad the air was tense upon entering, three iodromes initiating a meeting with their small pack of body guards to the side, one of the dromes bringing a Durumboros with them. The same Durumboros Gan bit two days ago. If not for the third and unknown Iodrome leader holding him back, Gan would be fighting for his life right now.

"Little beast bit me! Threw me off ledge! Lemme smash!" The Durumboros roared. The only reason he wasn't immediately charging was because the Iodrome blocking him and he apparently wasn't gonna harm the bird wyvern in front of him.

"Easy, easy! This isn't the time nor the place!" The Iodrome yelled. "I told you to behave!" With a turn of his waist, he slapped the Durumboros across the face and made him reel a bit. To everyone's shock, and Doku's slight amusement, the brute wyvern began to whimper. "Go wait up on the ledge until I'm done and do NOT move." The Iodrome sternly commanded.

Without a word, the Durumboros followed his command. "Sorry about that. Guess our allies are already acquainted huh?" He said dryly as he turned his attention to Doku and Gan.

"It's a small swamp, what can he say?" Doku responded. "Now how about we get this meeting underway?"

"Before we begin." The other Iodrome, Vazu, said. "Might we have a name?" He asked the other Iodrome.

"I'd prefer not too..."

"If we're to work together, some modicum of trust is needed. All we want is a name, nothing more." Doku said. Gan could see the uncomfortable feeling between him and Vazu, but it was clearly put aside for the more important matter.

"Fine." The Iodrome relented. "My name is Vin."

"Hmm, a newly made leader. Well, you've certainly picked a time to rise in the ranks." Vazu chuckled.

"Ain't that the truth." Doku muttured. "All right then, let's get down to business."

"Indeed." Vazu nodded. "We all know why we're here. The question is, what are we gonna do?" He looked towards Doku as he asked, and the other two sets of eyes followed.

Doku nodded, knowing that he would be looked to given his experience. "Here's what I know about the Baruragaru's abilities. The leviathan enjoys blood, his tongue can rip up lfe around him while tearing our Ioprey to pieces, and when he sucks down on an Iodrome, he gains the power of our poison and takes it to another level. Without poison, he can punch a whole through us or rupture our organs with a powerful blast of water."

"So that's how he fights." Vazu said. "But what about his maneuverability?"

"The bastard creature can burrow in mud to catch us off guard or use it to escape to safety. He can swim too. Even if we mapped out the area, I doubt we could keep up with him, keep him in one place, and contain the damage." Doku answered.

"We could try." Gan piped up. It kinda just slipped out, but he decided to roll since he spoke up. "We just need to trap him on harder ground." He gestured around for example and they nodded. "It wouldn't immobilize him for too long, but he definitely wouldn't be able to get out with all of us hampering his movements."

"Okay. We definitely have denser spots covered, but how could we lure him here exactly?" Vin asked.

"Well, blood. A bloody bait." Gan answered. "We need lots of blood to draw him in and from an irresistible source." Gan looked around at the Iodromes and motioned his arms in their directions. "Get what I'm saying."

"All of us." Vazu asked.

"For the blood splatter and scent yes, but just one live Iodrome actually. Too many will probably ward him off." Gan said. "And he would have to be particularly vulnerable and unknown." He continued, his eyes turning towards Vin.

The other two Iodrome turned towards him and he began to looked panicked. "Why me?!"

"You're the youngest and have less Ioprey to look out for." Vazu said mulling it over favorably.

"He also hasn't seen your face yet either." Doku added.

"What the hell?! You're both gonna just let that Kamu single me out?!" Vin asked with disbelief.

"You're the best Candidate for bait. Also, and I can't stress this enough, bait, not a sacrifice." Gan said, trying to ease Vin and his worries. It didn't seem to do much so he went further. "You also have a Durumboros at your disposal. We just need to have him positioned close, but out of immediate notice. When the Baruragaru strikes, your fine brute friend can jump him." He optimistically pointed out.

Vin glared at him, but grunted in acceptance. "Fine. But before I toss my neck out, I gotta ask. What's to guarantee him to come?"

Gan shook his head. "Nothing entirely. But I doubt we could find if we threw out a search."

Doku nodded. "He's right. If a Baruragaru doesn't wanna be caught in the open, it most likely won't. Like i said, bastards can be slippery and by now, he knows we'll be on the lookout."

"And most creatures don't really aim to prey on your kind do they?" Gan asked. The Iodromes nodded. "At the very least, we have a chance."

"You know, just because he can dive away doesn't mean he can't run away." Vazu said. "And getting our Ioprey to cut him off would essentially be suicide for them."

"Dung." Gan blurted.

"Excuse me?" Vazu said, confused by Gan's one word.

"Give your pack dung and when the creep tries to leave, have them toss the dung at his position to keep him corralled." Gan answered. All the Iodromes didn't look pleased, but nodded after a second of hesitation.

"So then." Doku said slowly as he looked towards the other leaders. "We're all agreed on the plan and the location?" He asked, gesturing with his open arms around the field.

""Agreed."" Both Vazu and Vin agreed, the latter a bit more begrudgingly.

"Excellent. Tomorrow sound like a good time to enact the plan?" Everyone nodded. "Alright then. Meeting adjourned. Rest up everyone, tomorrow we kill an overgrown leech."

* * *

As of now, Kata was happy Abiorugo. Good rest, good food, nice Ios, this whole cave was nice. Her forced traveling partner was tolerable as of now. That Baruragaru was as good as eaten next time they meet. But her thoughts were hardly on anything not related to consumption as she chowed down on some Aptonoth guts.

"Hey Kata." Gan greeted as he walked over to their guest nest while his partner ate from a pile of fresh flesh next to her.

"Crazy man." Kata greeted through a mouthful of flesh. "Where you been?"

"Planning with Doku and the other Iodromes over the Baruragaru hunt." He answered, deciding to fill his own belly.

"Kata in plan right?"

"Of course. But here's the thing, you come later."

"Why?" She asked simply.

"Doku wants you pretend to be an unaffiliated. Doesn't want compromise the loose trust between him and the other Iodromes." Gan told her through a mouth full of food, mimicking her eating methods. Or rather, eating like a usual hunter would.

"Oh, okay. So when Kata charge exactly?"

"Anytime a little after we ambush it. Got it?" Kata nodded and Gan gave her a small smile. "Good. So do anything interesting while I was gone or did you just pig out like usual?"

Kata turned her head in a perplexed manner before snorting. "Pig out? Speak properly crazy man, Kata won't waste brain power and words on gibberish. "

Gan pinched the bridge of his snout. "Forgive me - did you or did you not just sit here and eat all day?"

"Kata eat, then sleep, then hunt, then eat." She answered, counting with her fingers. "Next, Kata will sleep."

"Lemme guess, you'll eat after sleep right?" Gan asked dryly, already feeling he knew the answer.

"Nope, but you close. Tail checking comes next." She chuckled. "Then Kata will eat."

"Quite the routine." Gan snarked.

"It can be hard, but me like it." Kata stopped talking to consider something before speaking again. "Hey, crazy man. Why you want to leave marsh anyway?" She asked.

Gan paused a bit, caught slightly off guard by her out of the blue question. "Why do you ask?"

"Question just cross Kata's mind. So, why does crazy man wanna go southwest?"

Gan took a moment to answer. "I'm looking for someone. After that, I'm gonna try to find some answers."

"To what and and why?" Kata asked, her eyes narrowing over Gan's hesitation. "Kata not like suspense."

"Listen Kata." Gan said, a bit on edge since he couldn't really explain this. "It's a personal matter and it has no effect on you whatsoever. So please, don't ask."

Kata shrugged and went back to eating. "Fine." She said. "As long as Kata isn't wronged, do what you will and Kata follow."

"Thanks." Gan sighed with relief before sighing as he saw what was in Kata's grip. "And put that down."

"Why?"

"Because that's not a random slab of meat, that's a blood stained rock ball."

"Huh?" The blood stained rock immediately unfolded to reveal a Konchu boy with an expressionless face. "Crazy man wrong. It's a bloodstained Konchu. Why he not scream." Before Gan could answer, the Konchu jumped and burrowed off, the blank expression never leaving his face.

"Hey!" Swick immediately entered the area, wheezing from nearly nonstop running from the looks of it. "You guys see a Konchu rolling around here?" They didn't answer. "Well if you do, don't let him runoff. He knows to much." Swick informed them before stomping off, grumbling profanities as he left.

Gan and Kata decided to just eat in a comfortable yet confusing silence.

* * *

 _ **AN: And another chapter, hopefully well done unlike my steak, hehe.**_

 _ **As you can see, a bit of a naming system established for Ioprey/Iodromes.**_

 _ **Anyway, have a good day, my little monsters.**_


	6. Ambush Day?

"Today's the big day," Gan whispered to himself, rising from his blissful slumber and slowly opening his eyes. Was he nervous about fighting a monster? No. Was he nervous about fighting again in this new body against a new form of the old prey? Somewhat, it was obvious from his previous encounters, his fighting ability wasn't top notch and that Baruragaru was definitely NOT a pushover. Was he nervous about working with these Ios? Definitely. Working with manlike animals who were most likely looking out for themselves was... new and kinda frightening for Gan. He still figured they weren't ever going to be one hundred percent sure and managed to retain most of his hunting confidence. Man and beast alike followed a pattern and a man-beast such as this would surely follow suit. It was not like the hunts he was used to but it was a hunt nonetheless.

"Rrrrr... shut up, still sleepy." His bunkmate groaned, or growled rather. No doubt still fatigued after her night of usual binge eating, a 'pre battle' meal she insisted. "Wake me up when we go fight the Barurur - whatever."

"Kata, today is the day." Gan received another growl as a response, "The day we're fighting the Baruragaru." No response, "For the protection of our future food supplies."

Kata immediately shot up with a veritable inferno in her eyes, "Kata ready."

Gan figured that would get her up, the food obsessed tank, "Come on, the others are waiting for us."

Kata, who began to stretch her stiff muscles, asked, "Where we meet others at again?"

"Just outside of the cave," Gan curtly replied, "We're all gonna get into position for the ambush and take the beast down."

"If you say so," Kata grunted, her tail swishing with some enthusiasm, "Kata wonder how slimy freak tastes."

Gan rolled his eyes. Was her kind always so focused on food? It wouldn't be a surprise since Abiorugo were notorious gluttons second only to Deviljho… Deviljho. The thought of such beasts in this world made him shudder, 'I could only imagine what fighting them is like here.'

Once they stepped out of the cave they came upon the Ios, unfazed by the cold morning air and light rain falling upon them, "Ah, look at who's up," Doku gave the odd duo a casual greeting while his men were doing some stretches and, from the looks and sounds of throat clearing, exercises related to their venom glands, "Don't mind my lads. Gotta make sure they're in shape after all."

Kata snorted, "Gotta make sure blood flows, right?" From the slight sour look that came on Doku's face and twitches from his subordinates since that joke was found to be in poor taste. Gan, not finding the joke amusing either, delivered a light elbow jab into the side of Kata's gut, making her grunt in minor pain, "What?"

"Anyway," Gan drawled, "Me and my simple companion are ready. How about the others?"

Doku's casual demeanor immediately changed to his more authoritative one, "They sent a messenger just a few seconds telling us they're on standby," He motioned for an Ioprey to come forward, "If you're good to go now, I'll send my fastest scout to tell them to get into action while we move into position." Said scout gave Gan a quick salute and began bouncing on his feet, clearly ready to run at his boss' command.

A rather amusing sight for Gan to witness, "Like I said, we're ready." At Gan's confirmation, Doku gave his subordinate a swift nod and the scout was off in a blink while the Iodrome howled for his gang to gather around him. They were off to the fields, Gan and Kata not far behind the red mass of poisonous bird wyverns.

The human turned Kamu really had to hold back his fascination, awe, and terror he felt for the situation he was in. The emotions he felt from the meeting and anticipation weren't as powerful as compared to what he felt now, an unheard or even thought of scenario not only happening before his eyes, but hapoening to him, he was apart of this insane scenario, "Gah!" In the midst's of his mental ramblings, he payed little attention to his surroundings and stepped on what appeared to be an agitated Konchu. Said insect glared at him before rolling away.

"Oh hey, we saw him earlier," Kata chuckled before she shifted into a thinking pose, "Wonder what Konchu taste like."

Gan shook his head, urging Kata to keep moving. He bitterly scolded himself, he should know better than to let his thoughts cloud his senses like that. He just needs to play along and do what he and his colleagues do best: adapt, survive, and hunt.

While the defenders of the Marshlands prepared for an inevitable confrontation, the invader basked himself in the best mud the wetlands had to offer him.

This new land was somethings else, something rather spectacular. The murky waters and mud of swamp provided superb mobility and the network of caves provided further shelter once it was time to slumber. That being said, the real key feature of this place was the environment itself but what lurked in it. So many tasty morsels of blood and toxins running about, ignorant to the hunger a he possessed and unable to truly combat him.

Truly, a Baruragaru could thrive here. The little red bird wyverns, the herbivores, the mammals, the occasional brute and flying wyverns, all those sacs of blood and toxin for him to consume, and they could do so little against him, especially when ambushed! Truly a paradise for a voracious bloodsucker!

 **sniff sniff**

A low, gurgling growl left the throat of the leviathan, 'prey,' from the smells of it, this prey was particularly lacerated. A potential meal ripe for the taking but swift action would no doubt be needed as to avoid kill steals. The Baruragaru sank into the mud and with great haste, went to the direction of the smell.

Obviously, being able to sink into the mud of the marshlands had its perks but unfortunately, this perk had a drawback. Whenever the Baruragaru sank into the mud, smelling and sight were out of the question. Once the leviathan goes under, he had to rely on sound and vibrations to hone in on targets. For most of the wet lands of the marsh, this worked. But, naturally the geography wouldn't always workout the way a predator wants it to as these marshlands had dry spots, especially further inland, and these dry spots were essentially a Baruragaru's blind spots. At the very least, the ever increasing rain would provide some help in this regard.

As luck would have it, this morsel happened to be in the direct path of an outstretching blind spot. Once he reached the edge, the Baruragaru poked his head from the mud and flickered his tongue from maw, **"sssssshh,"** yes, right in the middle of the fields. Not too far from the marshes but enough to make him wary. Mobility was cut down in this area. If trouble reared its ugly head, the leviathan would be forced to run rather dive away and leviathans were poor runners in comparison to most other monsters. Still, the blood was overpowering, intoxicating, too much to ignore.

With hesitation brushed aside, the beast sprang from the muddy landscape to the fields of wheat like plants. Dry landscapes were so annoying to lumber on but the agitation would no doubt be worth the meal.

Slowly, the leviathan made his way to the prey, picking up speed as he got closer and the fresh blood slowly drove him into a frenzy.

"Heheheha," A raspy, gurgling laugh left the Baruragaru at the sight of his prey. One of those bigger red bird wyverns sprawled on the field and covered in the blood of his lesser kin. It was almost too perfect... too perfect indeed.

The Baruragaru halted in his tracks, the bird wyvern just inches beyond the reach of his tongue. This didn't feel right. Why was this creature so isolated, covered in the blood of his fellows? And of all the places to faint, why this open field? While this surely could be coincidental, something felt off. It left him shaking. Wait, no, those were the footsteps of a brute wyvern charging straight towards him!

The Baruragaru jumped to the side, the large monster's bulk barely grazing his intended target. The follow up was a hammer tail the managed to nail the leviathan's right arm and, from the sounds of the crunching, the impact caused some fractures. Certainly not a completely debilitating injury but still very aggravating as it was painful.

Another charge from the brute wyvern came his way, steam flowing from the humps of its mossy back in great bursts. Rather than dodge, the Baruragaru decided to counter the raging beast with a powerful jet of water to one of his legs, forcing him to buckle from the blow and catch himself before he fell face first. It was enough to prompt the Baruragaru to attempt to pounce the beast and dig his prehensile tongue into a neck artery. Juggernaut or not, a stab and draining of a major artery always proved fatal and once a Baruragaru was in a creature's neck then it was over.

But a growl to the right froze his movements and he turned to see the furry bitch again while a growl to his left revealed the blade bitch. The Baruragaru hissed, a clear expression of malice and annoyance towards the duo at his sides, and steeled himself for an inventible attack from his flanks and front. Of course, as his luck would have it, the next attack came from his back in the form of a toxic projectile smashing against the back of his head. It stung like hell but only proved to serve as an opener for the other monsters to attack, starting with the furry bitch.

Gan rushed forward, barely ducking under a the Baruragaru's low right swipe, delivering a quick slash against the leviathan's gut before he ran to the other side. Then Kata came over in less than a second and her tail lashed out towards the Baruragaru's neck, his head nearly severed from his neck had he not craned his body back in time to dodge the bladed appendage. He followed the craning of his body with a twirl to counter Kata's missed attack with a tail lash of his own aimed towards her gut. The blow struck her but rather than buckle from the blow like before, she took it and latched onto his tail before she gave it a rough tug. The Baruragaru could only give another aggravated hiss before the large frame of the Durumboros crashed into him, almost completely knocking the air from his lungs. On a related note, the large brute wyvern nearly bowled over Kata in his charge.

The Baruragaru could feel his ribs nearly break and the horns stab at his hide during the beast's charge, the ensuing bear hug not doing his midsection any favors. He couldn't escape this particular brute wyvern with his own brute strength, so he lashed his tongue across the Durumboros' face. A lucky strike nearly took an eye, making the large herbivore flinch and his grip slacken which allowed the Baruragaru to slip his arm though the bear hug and jab at the Durumboros' neck. The brute wyvern reeled, throwing the leviathan away to rub his sore throat and trying to roar curses though his coughing fit.

The Baruragaru barely landed on all fours with his fins completely flaring and his eyes glowing a baleful orange, **"HWUAAAAAGGSSHH!"**

 **"RRRROOOOO!"** Three howls, with one from the blood covered Vin and the other two leader's calls from the hills, echoed across the area and it was soon followed by the howls of smaller beings. More than a dozens of Ioprey rushed out from multiple directions, surrounding the bloodthirsty leviathan with fangs, claws, and poison sacs eager to avenge their fallen comrades. The three Iodrome and the other large monsters join the red subordinates in surrounding the Baruragaru, the former looking just as eager as the Ioprey to tear this monster apart.

Worry seemed to etch itself onto the beast's face as for a split second, with all the odds being stacked against him and all of his enemies primed to finish this skirmish. Then a sudden smirk graced the Baruragaru's maw the moment everyone leapt in and his tongue dropped to his feet. Faster than any of them could blink, The Baruragaru's tongue lashed out in a 360 degree of blood letting fury, dicing up the Ioprey in a spray of blood and throwing the larger monsters away save for the Durumboros who was sent skidding but no less disoriented than the other large monsters,

'Shit!' Gan's mind could only think one thing in that instance, the pain from the lashes clouding his mind. That attack was familiar but the last Baruragaru he fought, when he was human and the world was so simple, couldn't do the tongue lash in a full three sixty and certainly didn't have that much power in his lashes. He could feel the numerous lacerations on his body, shallow enough to quell the fear bleeding out but deep enough to make him cautious of another attack. Gan briefly wondered what being pierced by that tongue was like if it could do all that in a widespread lash out as he got up and got his bearings back. That's when heard a deep slurping sound and immediately snapped out of his stupor.

He saw the Baruragaru with Vin below him, the Iodrome pinned down by the leviathan's foot while the tongue that had lashed everyone away was embedded into his carotid artery and sucking away, the slits along the Baruragaru's head, body, and tail starting to become purple as he drained the Iodrome of his bodily fluids. Gan rushed towards, throwing that cautious mindset to the wind for that instant, 'The poison, he's absorbing Vin's poison!' Gan thought, feeling panic wash over him, 'I have to stop him! I have to stop him!'

Gan tackled the Baruragaru from behind, doing his best to latch and tear at the leviathan's back while dislodging him from his comrade's throat. Gan succeeded in staggering the beast and freeing Vin from the creature's grasp, the tongue being reeled in a split sec after. Gan barely hesitated before he began mauling the larger monster's back, fangs sinking in the hide and claws digging, cutting, and removing bits of flesh they could, all while simultaneously trying to stay on the Baruragaru as he thrashed around in a flurry to get the smaller monster off. He tried to reach with his claws, using his tongue to whip the mammal, and when that didn't work, he resorted to jumping and grinding against the ground. This last resort worked as Gan found himself in pain from the weight of the leviathan crashing against him combined with the grinding against hard hide on his front and the earth upon his back. He let go of he invasive monster and rolled away to catch his breath, avoiding the piercing tongue as it flew from the maw of his enemy, who was relieved to finally have Gan off but now finding himself more enraged as this fight dragged on.

The Baruragaru's relief of removing his assailant was very short lived as he noticed the Durumboros charging towards him again alongside one of the Iodrome, that Iodrome being Vazu. He turned towards them, his focus being more on the Durumboros in particular, and began to churn the toxins stored in his body. In one fluid motion, the Baruragaru unleashed a powerful torrent of toxic bile at the monsters heading towards him. The spray was strong enough to throw both of the monsters away and even the Baruragaru found himself nearly off balance from the force of his own blast, 'Strange... wasn't this stronge last time.'

Vazu and the Durumboros were pretty much down, the former writhing in pain of the blast and his poisoning while the latter was nearly out cold from the blast alone. If it weren't for the fact it that Io's were resistant to poison, Vazu would be in critical condition.

Baruragaru let his inner musings linger a second too long before jumping to the side and received deep slash across his right shoulder. He could see the Bladed Bitch was furious. her mouth starting to smoke and her spikes begging to glow, **"BRRRRAAAAAYY!"** She held her head and roared, unleashing a small, explosive breath attack in a display of might. The Baruragaru wasn't impressed enough to show any facial concern but still mentally kicked himself for getting so careless, especially with her. The combination of her tail blade and fire made her the biggest threat of the bunch with the Duromboros out of the way. The furrry bitch, who was now approaching, also proved a capable fighter and needed to be watched.

"Kata, with me!" Gan yelled. Kata barely payed him any attention but nodded, assuming the crazy man wanted to attack together and she was correct. The duo charged in from opposite directions.

The Baruragaru leapt and twisted around to bat away Gan with his tail and a light mist of poison towards Kata. She released a small explosive breath attack which blew the mist away and made the Baruragaru flinch. Kata seized the opportunity and thrusted her tail forwards in a swift motion, her tail nearly managing to dig into his gut. What stopped her tail from impaling the Baruragaru was his timely catch, his hands grappling the sides of her tail, his claws digging into flesh while spikes dug into his palms. Both wyverns ignored the pain and went on a momentary power struggle, Kata trying to move her tail forward and the Baruragaru keeping it at bay. The latter wizened up first by a split second and turned his head towards the brute wyvern, homing on her neck until he made out the sounds of running from behind him through the heavy downpour. How he wished he noticed sooner.

Gan was only a few feet behind him when he turned and jumped, legs stretching out midair. His tongue came out on instinct of self preservation, something to injure the flying furry object coming at him. Both dropkick and tongue made contact, the tongue impaling Gan's left shoulder a nano second faster than the kick. The dropkick, while slightly off mark, struck the upper part of the invasive monster's back. Gan was tossed on the ground while the Baruragaru stumbled forward and lost his grip on Kata's tail as it flew forward, burrowing into his stomach with a sick squelch, covering the tip in a fresh coat of blood.

The Baruragaru roared. It was a roar of pure agony laced with rage expressed by the sounds of giant, murderous serpent. Both Gan and Kata could see he was out of poison as the slits on his body were clear but that obviously didn't mean he had no ranged weaponry and despite his grueling injury, he was far from finished.

The Baruragaru released a quick burst of water which momentarily distracted Kata and jumped back, grunting through his clenched teeth as he removed himself from the brute wyvern's tail. He landed and the ground, somewhat muddy, splashed from his land and nearly made a mud wave that could almost throw Kata slightly off balance. The monster's eyes widened and he smirked as an idea popped in his head. He hastily began to channel the water in his body and turned towards the approaching Furry and Blade duo. With his current condition, this was going to hurt like hell and momentarily dry him but it was time he made his exit.

Gan, holding his bleeding shoulder turned towards Kata and smirked, "Nice work."

Kata snorted in amusement while keeping her eyes on her soon to be food and said, "Nice dropkick," then her face scrunched up in confusion.

Gan turned back to the Baruragaru and his face matched Kata's. The Baruragaru's neck slits were swelling and his eyes seemed to be glazed over. Gan went wide eyed and once the Baruragaru's head twitched, Gan dove right into Kata and knocked her out of the way of a vicious water blast that managed to nick his left leg.

The Baruragaru's blast went far and was wider than his stream. Just like the poison blast, it pushed him back, but unlike the blast, he blast was more haphazard and quickly became more of a large splash that left his maw as he lazily moved his head side to side. Once it was finished, he fell to one knee and clasped the wound inflicted upon him by the duo. His slits were throbbing and his hide looked slightly more pruned but the physical pain that plagued him earlier had rose in intensity. At the very least, the downpour of today would quickly remedy his hydration problem. More importantly, his current blind spot issue was also remedied by the combined efforts of his water blat and the rain.

Gan moved off of Kata immediately after the blast subsided and winced from the gash in his leg. He felt tremors and small muddy waves rush against his body, heard the rumbling from a few yards away and turned to see the Baruragaru was burrowing into the fresh mud. It seemed he was getting through with some difficulty but eased into the drenched ground with his jostling.

"No, no, no!" Doku weakly yelled, scrambling up to reach for the position where the beast retreated to, "We were so goddamn close!" he roared hoarsely, nealy falling over as he slowed to a pained limp.

"RRRRR, so close,"Kata growled before turning to Gan, who was up and offering her a hand. A low rumbling left her throat, "Thanks."

Gan nodded as he helped her up, "You're welcome," he replied with lightly pained grunt.

"Oh shit!" Everyone, including the rising Vazu, turned to see Vin next to the lightly convulsing Durumboros, holding his hand as pink foam leaked from the giant herbivore's mouth, "Chumbo's poisoned, big got nailed by that bastard's poison blast!"

"Quick, we need find some bitter bugs ASAP!" Doku barked before turning to Gan and Kata, "I need you to give that man some bugs stat! Me and Vazu need to get our gangs on alert!" He yelled as he went over to his fellow Iodrome, "We're so close, we can't let that bastard go now!"

Gan quickly reached for his pouch as he rushed over to the downed Chumbo and pulled out three bugs, "This is gonna taste, well, bitter but you just gotta swallow it down whole, okay?"

"D-don't wanna," Chumbo choked out, "Bugs are gross."

"You don't have a choice!" Vin yelled, digging his claws into what Gan assumed to be his friend. At first he thought they might've paired up out of convenience like him and Kata but their bond clearly went deeper than that. Vin managed to get the big bruiser hold his open with a mixture of force and threats as Gan dropped the bitterbugs down his throat. Chumbo whined and developed a pained look after the insects slid over his tongue but swallowed it with Vin's "encouragement".

They sat and watched him, making sure the bugs would have an effect while Kata simply stood and watched with mild curiosity. Both Gan and Vin let out a sigh of relief as the foam dissipated from the corner of Chumbo's mouth and his convulsions ceased, his chest starting to fall and rise a more steady pace, "So tired... thanks, furry one," Chumbo whispered as he allowed unconsciousness to take him.

Vin turned to Gan and nodded, "Thanks," he muttered, wincing as he repositioned himself, to injured to really stand on steady legs, "I'll stay here and watch over him... wait for some back up to arrive. Not to sound like you're boss but now would be a good time to go and help the others look for that creep."

"Right," Gan immediately stood up, ignoring the pain in his leg, and walked off with Kata close behind. In his mind, he went over what had just happened... the ambush, the fight, his plan, and more importantly, the creature he was hunting. The monster man who managed to elude them thanks to timing and some wits. He scolded himself, 'That could've gone better.'

* * *

 _ **Another chapter baby, after so long! Special thanks to my gremlin in the basement doing the beta work... don't go looking for him, he's mine now. Speaking of which, here's an important message.**_

 _ **"Don't do school, do drugs."**_

 _ **A wise gremlin indeed.**_


End file.
